Sigma Planning Corp Decreases Stock Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its position in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Ventas were worth $1,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.14.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $67.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.02. Ventas, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $68.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 356.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Profile

Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.